The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 27

New York City, USA

Spring 2015

Nothing. Nadine had nothing. Three days of searching and digging and 'resting'—as she'd been ordered by Natasha, Steve and even Banner and Dr. Cho once they'd been brought in on the battle of wills—and she was no closer to finding Nina. She was seriously beginning to regret allowing the Avengers to insist that best option for her was to return to New York—and stay in New York—to regroup.

She should have listened to her instincts and stayed in Sokovia, or at least ignored all protests and returned to the small country once she'd gotten over her initial shock, both from her injury and her scare that Nina had been... She had more options, more avenues she could explore if she had boots on the ground. She could question people, see the lay of the land, get a feel for the environment her targets were hiding in... There was only so much she could do sitting in front of a computer in New York, even with J.A.R.V.I.S.'s help; she could only stare at screen for so long. And while it was incredible what she could find when she set to it, there was still only so much computer programs could do.

Strucker's Enhanced Twins were good at staying off the radar. There was no digital trail that she could find beyond a few vague records for past addresses, most for foster families the twins had cut all ties to, or buildings that were either long gone or condemned. They had next to no relationships that could be traced digitally.

Her last and best hope had been scouring surveillance video, security feeds, CCTV networks, the whole bit in an attempt to track them down. Nadine had even delved into one of the programs Stark had 'acquired' from S.H.I.E.L.D. for tapping into any WiFi-connected camera to try and locate Nina or the Maximoff twins through facial recognition. It certainly didn't help that one of the Twins—Pietro—could move faster than many of Sokovia's old cameras could pick up. She'd found a few feeds from the odd store—one a pharmacy—where the cameras picked up distortions that could possibly be a result of his movements. But she couldn't be certain. It definitely didn't help that Novi Grad's system of surveillance cameras was sparse...and of a less than desired quality for what she was after. It was a by-product of the constant uncertainty and upheaval many of the poorer, turbulent Eastern European countries faced.

It was making Nadine wish all the more than she was on the ground rather than stuck in New York.

All the advanced tech in the world was incredible and invaluable...until it wasn't.

But she was growing fairly certain that the Twins hadn't left Novi Grad as Stark and even Rogers had suspected they would three days into their flight from Strucker's base. Perhaps it was only a gut feeling, but from what she'd gleaned from what little J.A.R.V.I.S. had been able to save of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff's files after List had attempted to wipe them, she couldn't help but think they'd stay in their home city. And the surveillance videos with the distortions? Again, her instincts said it was no coincidence.

She was beginning to grope for anything she could use to help her search. She was seriously debating abandoning the Avengers altogether, no matter that a peculiar little feeling in the back of her mind rebelled against the idea. But the urge to do whatever it took to find her daughter overrode almost every other instinct, inherent or taught.

She was beginning to truly understand why the Red Room Graduation Ceremony consisted of the steps that it did.

There was nothing more important to her just now than finding Nina.

Nothing.

Which was why she had finally approached Rogers earlier that day about the only step short of returning to Sokovia that she had yet to explore. She hadn't even opened with a friendly greeting, getting right to the point when she'd found him reading over reports or some other such on the far side of the Tower's communal area.